The present disclosure relates generally to communication networks, and more particularly, to cloud computing.
The number of applications and amount of data in enterprise data centers continue to grow. Cloud computing is being proposed as one possibility to meet the increasing demands. Cloud computing enables network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort. Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) is one area of cloud computing that has attracted a lot of interest. IaaS delivers computer infrastructure, typically a platform virtualization environment, as a service. Rather than purchasing servers, software, data center space, or network equipment, customers instead purchase these resources as an outsourced service. Most IaaS providers do not disclose how their infrastructures are handled internally since they often view this as their competitive advantage. As a result, the enterprise has no visibility into the infrastructure within the cloud and is left with no assurance of security, reliability, or visibility. Even if the provider discloses how their internal operations are implemented, there is still no way for the enterprise to monitor or verify the infrastructure.
Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views of the drawings.